It must be very new as I didn't see it on Friday when I bought the Rosemary piece. I do agree on the Indigo comment, though. Could be quite pretty, but I'd still much prefer the Midnight Blue from South Africa.

The apparent matte finish isn't as nice as your typical glossy LC, but I think there's room for "subdued," if not "somber" (my favorite color is Indigo, which is actually a non-gradient Navy--very glossy, though).

I'm going to reserve further judgment until I see it in person, though. I just called my local W-S, and was told they're going to have it in store in mid-September.

Yes, it's almost black. It's a warm, purplish off black. It's as if they decided to add a smidgen of Cassis, Cobalt and Chestnut to their black. It's is shiny though. It's not bad, but if you're going to go that dark, I would prefer the black already. It's a bit darker than it6 looks on their site. It's a handsome color though and I prefer it to Ocean, and that horrid Linen.

By the way- if you are considering between this color and another, the WS store clerk that I've made friends with has disclosed to me that this color scratches very easily...so, a word of caution, as most of us invest in these pieces for the long haul...